Lupine Publishers | Journal of Pediatrics and Neonatology
Abstract
Pregnant women undergo metabolic adaptations and challenges that predispose them to a variety of complications. The objective of this article was to highlight the importance of eating timing and especially limited evening eating on optimizing pregnancy status and pediatric health and welfare. Because of limited evening and nocturnal metabolic capacity to handle nutrients (e.g., glucose), pregnant women are recommended to take smaller and earlier evening meals and instead distribute their main food meals over the course of morning and day hours. Such a food intake regimen would considerably reduce diabetes and obesity risks and improve upcoming lactation performance and pediatric health and welfare.
Keywords: Eating Timing; Pregnant Woman; Chrono-Nutrition; Pediatric Health
Philosophy
Chrono-nutrition is emerging as a new research area with
growing interest (1). Chrono-nutrition deals with optimizing
eating timing. The goal of chrono-nutrition is to synchronize
eating patterns with circadian physiological rhythms of human
metabolism (2,3). This synchrony aims to reduce risks from a
multitude of metabolic disorders (e.g., diabetes, obesity, cancer)
and improve human health and welfare. Basically, human glucose
tolerance is known to decline during evening hours and overnight.
This means that cells are not as much capable to assimilate and
metabolize nutrients in the evening as are they in the morning
(3). In other words, if large evening meals are taken, because of
incomplete and inefficient nutrient utilization by different cells,
nutrient overload will occur that will in turn predispose the body to
a variety of metabolic complications, such as diabetes, obesity, and
metabolic syndrome.
Pregnant women undergo physiological adaptations and are
already prone to metabolic challenges (e.g., diabetes and obesity)
(2,3). The above complications are, thus, very likely to happen in
pregnant women. As such, making the evening meal smaller and
taking it earlier (not later overnight) would help the pregnant
body better cope with the metabolic challenges. As another
complementary strategy, pregnant women are recommended
to take several small evening meals made of mainly fruits and
vegetables instead of starch and fats. This practice would be
predicted to improve insulin action and prevent obesity. Improving
evening nutrient and hormonal metabolism by evening exercise
has also been advised (4). The goal has been to optimize circadian
timing of eating and exercise towards optimal lifestyle. Optimizing
meal properties is a new research area with many unanswered
questions. Future research is required to address different aspects
of this promising field of study.
Conclusion
Smaller and earlier evening meals made of mainly fruits and vegetables instead of starch and fat are recommended for pregnant women to help improve intermediary metabolism and reduce metabolic complications. These effects will result in improved lactation physiology and pediatric health and welfare.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Ferdows Pars Agricultural and Livestock Holding Co., (Tehran, Iran) for supporting the author’s programs of optimizing science education in the third millennium.
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